A board of hot cross buns. - 1

Below you will find my favorite Easter recipes, from this simple baked ham with the best mustard sauce to rack of lamb with tzatziki . On the side, you can’t go wrong with scalloped potatoes or this showstopping hasselback potato gratin . There is nothing like a buttermilk pull-apart roll on the holiday table, though focaccia is easy and festive as well. Orange and olive oil cake and Chez Panisse almond torte are two favorite, easy, crowd-pleasing desserts. Find many more ideas below.

Finally, don’t forget to prep your hot cross buns a few days before Good Friday for an effortless morning. This post is organized as follows:

  • Hot Cross Buns

  • Easy-To-Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

  • Easter Brunch Punch

  • Easter Brunch (Sweet)

  • Easter Brunch (Savory)

  • Easter Dinner

  • Potatoes

  • Salads

  • Dessert

  • Bread

Hot Cross Buns

Nine hot cross buns on a serving board. - 2

Spiced with a dash of nutmeg and freshly grated orange zest, these hot cross buns are perfectly sweet and such a treat! Find step-by-step instructions in the post for making hot cross buns from scratch two ways: same day or days beforehand.

Easy-Peel Hard-Cooked Eggs

If you’re dyeing eggs for Easter and are dreading the peeling process, dread no more! Here are two easy-to-peel egg-cooking methods: stovetop and Instant Pot . In both, the eggs are steamed, which makes the shells slip right off. While I love my instant pot, more and more I favor the stovetop steaming method, which I use in this deviled eggs recipe and this egg salad sandwich .

A plate of deviled eggs. - 3 A plate of deviled eggs. - 4

Classic Deviled Eggs

Easter Brunch Punch

If you’ve never made a “house” punch, I highly recommend it, and I highly recommend this one: Philadelphia Fish House Punch , a mix of brandy, cognac, rum, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup.

A vintage punch bowl. - 5

Brunch (Sweet)

Brioche Cinnamon Buns

Prep these buns on Easter Eve. Rise to frosted brioche bliss … (and to very happy humans).

Favorite Easter Recipes: Simple Baked Ham, Best Mustard Sauce, Hot Cross Buns, Lemon - 6

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Ten years after posting this recipe, buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake continues to be one of the most popular recipes on the site:

Favorite Easter Recipes: Simple Baked Ham, Best Mustard Sauce, Hot Cross Buns, Lemon - 7

Overnight French Toast

This is the easiest French toast you will ever make, and I believe it’s one of the best, too. It’s crisp on the exterior and custardy on the interior. It emerges from the oven piping hot, ready for syrup, fruit, powdered sugar, or all three. Recently I made it with homemade brioche , and it was exceptional.

A halved loaf of brioche. - 8

Blueberry Scones, Blueberry Muffins

A blueberry scone on a plate. - 9 A blueberry scone on a plate. - 10

Fresh Lemon-Blueberry Scones

An overhead shot of a dozen blueberry muffins on a cooling rack. - 11 An overhead shot of a dozen blueberry muffins on a cooling rack. - 12

The Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal, Oatmeal Muffins

A bowl of freshly baked steel cut oatmeal with almonds. - 13 A bowl of freshly baked steel cut oatmeal with almonds. - 14

Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal

An oatmeal muffin on a board. - 15 An oatmeal muffin on a board. - 16

Oatmeal Muffins

Brunch (Savory)

slice of sausage, spinach and egg casserole - 17 slice of sausage, spinach and egg casserole - 18

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole with Spinach

A piece of bread topped with baked (shirred) eggs. - 19 A piece of bread topped with baked (shirred) eggs. - 20

Herb and Gruyère-Topped Baked (Shirred) Egg

Croque madame — croque monsieur topped with a poached egg — on a cutting board. - 21 Croque madame — croque monsieur topped with a poached egg — on a cutting board. - 22

How to Make Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame

A slice of potato-crusted quiche. - 23 A slice of potato-crusted quiche. - 24

Tartine’s Quiche, Potato Crusted

Dinner

If you’ve ever toiled over a roast turkey — from the brining to the basting to the carving — a baked ham feels like a complete dream. For one, there’s no marinating or brining. Second, you can’t overcook it, because it’s already cooked! You’re simply heating it through. Find all of my baked ham tips here .

We’ll be baking a brown sugar glazed ham this year and serving it aside my grandmother’s mustard sauce (the best). If you make a ham, be sure to save the bone and make this split pea and ham soup with it afterward.

A brown sugar glazed ham emerging from the oven. - 25 A brown sugar glazed ham emerging from the oven. - 26

Simple Baked Ham Recipe with Brown Sugar Glaze

Gramma's mustard sauce in a Weck jar. - 27 Gramma's mustard sauce in a Weck jar. - 28

My Grandmother’s Mustard Sauce (AKA: “The Ham Sauce”)

Split Pea and Ham Soup made with the ham bone and leftover ham:

A bowl of split pea and ham soup topped with olive oil croutons. - 29 The best and easiest recipe for rack of lamb. It takes five minutes to prepare. It's foolproof. And if you enjoy gnawing on bones as if they were lollipops, this recipe is for you. Make it. // alexandracooks.com - 30 The best and easiest recipe for rack of lamb. It takes five minutes to prepare. It's foolproof. And if you enjoy gnawing on bones as if they were lollipops, this recipe is for you. Make it. // alexandracooks.com - 31

Easiest Rack of Lamb

broiled lamb chops with Nigella Lawson's mint sauce - 32 broiled lamb chops with Nigella Lawson's mint sauce - 33

Broiled Lamb Chops with Nigella’s Mint Sauce & Roasted Asparagus

A sheet pan of broiled lamb meatballs. - 34 A sheet pan of broiled lamb meatballs. - 35

Keftedes (lamb meatballs) & Roasted Cabbage

Made with shallots, bread crumbs, olive oil, capers, anchovies, parsley and thyme, this bread crumb salsa could be served with anything from pan-seared lamb chops to grilled steak. Yum. // alexandracooks.com - 36 Made with shallots, bread crumbs, olive oil, capers, anchovies, parsley and thyme, this bread crumb salsa could be served with anything from pan-seared lamb chops to grilled steak. Yum. // alexandracooks.com - 37

Pan-Seared Lamb Chops with Toasted Bread Crumb Salsa

If you’re making lamb, here are two nice condiments:

olive tapenade with capers and parsley - 38 olive tapenade with capers and parsley - 39

Olive Tapenade with Capers & Parsley

A platter of tzatziki, drizzled with olive oil aside pita. - 40 A platter of tzatziki, drizzled with olive oil aside pita. - 41

Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce)

And if you’d like to keep it simple but festive, here are two great chicken options:

Roast chicken with clementines. - 42 Roast chicken with clementines. - 43

Roasted Chicken with Clementines

A platter of roast chicken with dates and artichoke hearts. - 44 A platter of roast chicken with dates and artichoke hearts. - 45

Spatchcocked Roast Chicken with Dates & Artichoke Hearts

Potatoes

Just-baked potato gratin in its baking dish. - 46 Just-baked potato gratin in its baking dish. - 47

Alice Waters’s Potato Gratin

Just-baked hasselback potato gratin. - 48 Just-baked hasselback potato gratin. - 49

Hasselback Potato Gratin (No-Peel, Make Ahead)

A plate of fingerling potatoes. - 50 A plate of fingerling potatoes. - 51

Crispy Pan-Seared Fingerling Potatoes

A bowl of herby buttermilk mashed potatoes. - 52 A bowl of herby buttermilk mashed potatoes. - 53

Creamy (No-Cream) Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Crispy Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

A platter of oven-roasted fingerling potatoes. - 54

Salads & Sides

A jar of lemon vinaigrette. - 55

With so many rich foods on the Easter table, a simple green salad on the side is nice. I love this lemon vinaigrette , which is light and bright, and which I use to dress simple salads composed of tender spring greens, shaved carrots, radishes, feta, and walnuts. Here are two other favorites:

If you’re looking for a heartier salad or vegetable side dish, here are a few more ideas:

Roasted asparagus with balsamic and parmesan on a plate. - 56 Roasted asparagus with balsamic and parmesan on a plate. - 57

Simple Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic and Parmesan

Dessert

A slice of carrot cake. - 58

The Ultimate Carrot Cake

I recently revisited an old carrot cake recipe , which I have long loved but which has gotten lost in the archives. I added weight measurements, simplified the mixing process, baked it in a 9×13-inch pan (as opposed to two 8-inch pans), and I frosted it with my favorite whipped cream-cream cheese frosting, which I use in this one-bowl birthday cake recipe. This carrot cake was just as delicious as I remember, and the family devoured it. Highly recommend!

A half-eaten slice of lemon-ricotta cheesecake - 59 A half-eaten slice of lemon-ricotta cheesecake - 60

Lemon-Ricotta Cheesecake

How to Make Tiramisu - 61 How to Make Tiramisu - 62

Tiramisu

A slice of almond torte on a plate. - 63 A slice of almond torte on a plate. - 64

Chez Panisse Almond Torte

This rich chocolate Easter egg nest cake is festive and fun, puffing way up when it bakes and sinking when it cools, a crackly meringue-like layer forming a perfect base to house dozens of colorful candy eggs. // alexandracooks.com - 65 This rich chocolate Easter egg nest cake is festive and fun, puffing way up when it bakes and sinking when it cools, a crackly meringue-like layer forming a perfect base to house dozens of colorful candy eggs. // alexandracooks.com - 66

Flourless Chocolate Cake

rhubarb custard cake cooled and ready to eat. - 67 rhubarb custard cake cooled and ready to eat. - 68

Rhubarb Custard Cake

Just-baked Torta Caprese. - 69 Just-baked Torta Caprese. - 70

Flourless Chocolate-Almond Cake (Torta Caprese)

A slice of orange and olive oil cake. - 71 A slice of orange and olive oil cake. - 72

Orange and Olive Oil Cake

Just baked buttermilk pull-apart rolls. - 73

Bread

Though I am partial to rolls on the holiday table, it’s hard to beat this overnight, refrigerator focaccia in terms of effort-to-reward ratio. It’s truly so easy and so delicious.

But if you’re up for making rolls, both of the recipes below are no-knead, and each dough can be made ahead of time and stashed in the fridge until you are ready to bake. And if you are yeast averse altogether, enter: popovers … so easy, so festive, so delicious.

Find a few more ideas below and here → Favorite Bread Recipe

Popovers 🎉

A tray of popovers in the oven. - 74

Rolls 🎉

Biscuits 👏

Focaccia 🎉

If making rolls is a page-turner for you, you could make a batch of this no-fuss focaccia . The beauty of this recipe is that it’s best made the day or two days before and tucked in the fridge — on Easter morning, you would just let it rise at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. You can bake it whenever the oven is free. Here’s a sourdough version .

Sliced focaccia on a board. - 75

No-Knead Bread 🍞

A montage of images of Mother's Day gift ideas. - 76

Mother’s Day is two weeks away. Here are a few ideas, most of which, I think, will ship in time. A few things I’m excited about below include the season’s latest cookbooks as well as this bright blue tortilla press (so cheerful!) from Masienda (love this store) and this vanilla-making kit and this really lovely red wine vinegar .

PS: My perennial favorites can be found in the shop .

PPS: More Ideas:

  • Mother’s Day 2024
  • Mother’s Day 2023
  • Mother’s Day 2022
  • Mother’s Day 2021

Cookbooks

For the Amanda Hesser fangirl mama in your life, the 25th edition of The Cook and The Gardener . If you are unfamiliar, in the book, Amanda tells the story of a year she spent as a cook in a seventeenth-century château in Burgundy. If you love seasonal cooking and excellent writing, you will love this book — it’s one of the first cookbooks I owned, and it was my introduction to Amanda, whose writing I continue to love . You could pair it with…

The Cook and the Gardener. - 77

… a Five Two Essential Kitchen Towel.

A Food52 tea towel on a countertop. - 78

For your vegan mama, my friend Gena Hamshaw’s latest book: A Grain, A Green, A Bean . There are so many recipes in this book I want to make, including every one from the “Beans & Greens On Bread” chapter!!

A cookbook: A Grain, A Green, A Bean - 79

You could pair it with a bean spoon or…

A bean spoon. - 80

… a bean spoon and a bag of beans :

A bean spoon aside a bag of beans. - 81

I’ve been loving Eden Grinshpan’s Tahini Baby

Favorite Easter Recipes: Simple Baked Ham, Best Mustard Sauce, Hot Cross Buns, Lemon - 82

You could pair it with a jar of really good tahini or…

Soom tahini - 83

… some really good hummus . I love the classic Little Sesame hummus, but they have so many fun flavors.

Little Sesame hummus. - 84

So many of you ask me about making bread in a bread machine, and until recently I haven’t known where to point you. Now I do! Lukas Volger’s The Bread Machine Book is filled with recipes that make me wish I owned a bread machine – they all look fantastic !

The Bread Machine Cookbook. - 85

You could pair it with really good butter (I can find this one at Whole Foods):

Really good butter. - 86

Molly Yeh’s latest: Sweet Farm

Sweet Farm by Molly Yeh. - 87

You could pair it with a Burlap and Barrel vanilla-making kit …

A jar of Nyanza Vanilla extract kit. - 88

Just add Bourbon! Or vodka! Or rum!

Bourbon poured into a jar filled with small vanilla pods. - 89

Pizza Night . Of course, I would be so honored if you gifted Pizza Night to the pizza-loving mother in your life. Now Serving in Los Angeles has signed copies of both Pizza Night and Bread Toast Crumbs , and they ship everywhere, including internationally. You could pair Pizza Night with …

Pizza Night. - 90

… my favorite dough storage containers or you could…

Dough storage containers. - 91

… splurge on something like Gozney’s latest portable oven: Tread.

Gozney Tread. - 92

It’s so cute! I will be reviewing this on Pizza Every Friday soon.

The Gozney Tread in action. - 93

My first Tread pizza:

A freshly baked pizza. - 94

A Few More Ideas:

Really nice red wine vinegar . I’ve been using it in this Greek salad dressing recipe , and it has never tasted better. You could pair it with a nice bottle of olive oil .

A nice bottle of red wine vinegar. - 95

A New Tortilla Press . How pretty is this blue ?! I love the red, too.

A blue tortilla press - 96

Regardless of the color, it works beautifully!

A nice tortilla press. - 97

You could pair it with a few bags of beautiful heirloom masa harina :

Masienda masa harina - 98

A new pair of shades: love my Goodrs.

A pair of Goodr shades. - 99

Avocados! The highlight of our month is when our avocados arrive. I think I’ve included this avocado subscription in my last three gift guides because I love them so: they are so, so delicious.

A box of avocados. - 100

For your tomato-loving mama, really nice canned yellow tomatoes , to tide her over till sungold season. I love making pizza sauce with these tomatoes.

Nice cans of yellow tomatoes. - 101

For your romance novel-loving mama, Ali Rosen’s latest: Unlikely Story

Unlikely Story by Ali Rosen. - 102

A big bag of tea ! Which you could pair with…

A large bag of tea. - 103

… a Japanese-style tea tin or two .

Tea in canisters. - 104 Tea canisters. - 105

A bag of really good cocoa powder: Cacao Barry Extra Brute

A bag of really good cocoa powder. - 106

or better, a batch of rich & fudgy, shiny-topped brownies made with that really good cocoa powder :

An up close photo of cut brownies on a board. - 107

or a batch of double chocolate espresso cookies made with that really good cocoa powder :

Double chocolate espresso cookies on a plate. - 108

In addition to the items above, a gift certificate to a local shop or restaurant, such as The Vischer Ferry General Store or Arthur’s Market or The Broken Inn would make a great gift. Here are some local and online shops I love:

Local Shops

  • Vischer Ferry General Store

  • Arthur’s Market

  • Studio 4 Hot Yoga

  • Hatchet Hardware Store

  • Fort Orange General Store

  • Bluebird

  • Schenectady Trading Co

  • Niskayuna Co-op

  • Hillsdale General Store

  • The Broken Inn

And here are some online shops I return to again and again:

Online Shops

  • Bloomscape

  • Burlap and Barrel

  • Bombas

  • Food52

  • Vuori

  • Masienda

  • Rancho Gordo

  • Framebridge

  • Beauty Counter

  • Elsie Green

  • GoldBelly

  • Dot and Army

  • The Orange Shop

  • Rancho Medaluca